Gary Lineker has won his multi-year battle against HMRC, having been wrongly accused by HMRC of underpaying £4.9m in tax.
Gary Lineker has won his multi-year battle against HMRC, having been wrongly accused by HMRC of underpaying £4.9m in tax. The first-tier tax tribunal hearing for Gary Lineker's case was heard by Judge John Brooks on 18/19 Jan 2023, who released his decision on 28th March 2023 – the appeal was upheld, meaning HMRC were wrong to pursue him.
Notably, the judge acknowledged that Lineker had paid all his taxes, saying: "For each tax year, Mr Lineker accounted for income tax and Class 4 NIC on the entirety of the income from his services, less a fixed amount of £30,000, paid to his then wife, Ms Bux (and on which she paid tax)."
In a statement released to ContractorCalculator, a spokesperson for Gary Lineker said: "I am pleased that the tribunal has confirmed that I have not failed to pay any taxes or national insurance by reason of the IR35 rules."
Dave Chaplin, CEO of IR35 tax compliance firm IR35 Shield, who watched the tribunal case, says: "Gary Lineker's IR35 case was unique because he operated via a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), rather than via a Limited Company. The difference meant he had already paid more income tax than HMRC was asking him to pay under the Intermediaries Legislation.
"I always said, if Gary Lineker was a tax avoider, then he was a terrible one because he chose to structure his tax affairs that maximised the tax he paid, not minimised it."
